Mental exam ordered for mom accused of killing daughter, 4

A psychiatric exam was ordered Wednesday to determine the sanity of the woman accused of killing her 4-year-old daughter in the belief it would save the child from becoming an Internet sex slave.

Marci Webber, 43, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Magdalene M. "Maggie" Webber in a Bloomingdale townhouse last week.

Webber listened intently Wednesday when DuPage County Judge George Bakalis told her that what she says to a psychiatrist during an exam could be used in court if her sanity is questioned.

Webber, who is being held on $5 million bail, was handcuffed with bandages on her left wrist, where she suffered what authorities said was a self-inflicted wound on the day of her daughter's slaying.

The request for the exam was made by Assistant State's Attorney Joseph Lindt. Webber's attorney, Assistant Public Defender Anthony Coco, did not object. Lindt said he anticipated the mental health exam would require numerous sessions.

Coco also said Webber would seek permission to attend her daughter's funeral. The victim's body was released last week to Salerno's Rosedale Chapel in Roselle, where a spokesman Wednesday said funeral arrangements are pending.

Authorities said the girl had her throat slashed and was nearly decapitated. Prosecutors said Webber wrote "divine mercy" in blood on the wall of the bathroom where Maggie was killed. She told police "she wanted to keep her daughter from being an Internet sex slave," according to prosecutors, who said they did not believe Maggie faced such a threat.

Webber and her daughter had been living in upstate New York until a few weeks ago, when they came to stay with Webber's mother in Bloomingdale.